King
by thatACDCchick
Summary: After the death of his father, the king of the Pride Lands Mikoto, Misaki has to come to terms with his responsibilities as the heir to the throne. The only obstacle is his uncle, Munakata, who has taken over the throne and claimed that Misaki is responsible for the death of their king.
1. Prologue

The sun rolled high above the plains set in a sapphire blue mural smeared with fluffs of cotton white clouds. It was the perfect day to present the heir to the throne. Mikoto paced back and forth slowly in the semi-darkened cave as Izumo watched his son Misaki jump around the cave chasing an insect.

"Don't be nervous," the lion purred as his son batted his little paws out at the insect flying a few feet away from his nose.

"I'm not nervous," Mikoto replied in a low tone.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late!" called the plump baboon who had just waltzed into the cave. Stuffing the last of a piece of fruit into his jaws, Kamamoto hopped over to Izumo and the cub. "You ready for this, little guy?"

Misaki glared at the baboon with hazel eyes and scowled. "I'm not little," the cub huffed as he sat on his haunches and flicked his tail irritably. "And do I have to do this?"

"You're going to be the king. The people need to know the face of their king, son," Izumo reminded the boy gently.

Misaki gazed down at the floor of the cave unwilling to argue with his mother. Wanting to get the show on the road, Kamamoto walked over and scooped a handful of dust into his hand to toss over the sulking cub's head. Misaki shook his head and squeaked out a sneeze.

"Oi!" he protested.

"It's ceremonial, don't ask, kid," Kamamoto replied with a shrug.

"I'm not a kid!" the sub growled leaping to his feet.

"Misaki," Mikoto said in a low tone and immediately the boy stopped.

Kamamoto placed a long-fingered hand on the cub's head and patted it gently. "It'll be alright."

With one last look at his parents, Misaki lifted his head and puffed out his chest. "Let's go."

Mikoto lead the way with his red mane held high and proud. Misaki watched the alpha lion in awe. One day… one day he would be a king just like him. Wiping the revered look from his face, Misaki followed behind his father with Izumo following behind him and Kamamoto bringing up the rear. Mikoto stopped halfway up the jutting rock causing the cub to pause uncertainly but a nudge in the hindquarters from Kamamoto's wooden staff got the lion moving again. Mikoto gave the boy a small nod of encouragement as he passed by and Misaki turned to see Izumo sit next to Mikoto on the rock with a proud smile on his face.

Misaki could hear the excited cheers and hoots and howls of the animals below. Monkeys hopped about on top of each other and water buffalo stomped their hooves into the dirt while zebras reared back and tossed their heads about. The heir peered tentatively over the edge of the rock at the excited faces below. These were his people. His subjects. He would be ruling over them one day. The realization made panic rise in his little chest and he nearly fled back into his mother's comfort. But one look back at the pride in his father's eyes stopped him.

Sitting down at the edge of the rock, he gazed down at the subjects as they all quieted and bowed respectfully at their future king. Then and there, Misaki promised he would become a king worthy of their respect. A king strong and proud. A king like his father.


	2. Chapter 1

Munakata laid on his back staring at the ceiling. Then a small field mouse crawled across his stomach where it sat on its hind legs and began cleaning its face. Munakata rose a brow at the tiny creature before clapping a large paw on top of it to trap its tail between the toes of said paw. The mouse struggled and squeaked as it was held aloft by its tail. As it flailed its tiny limbs and cried out in terror.

"Life's unfair… isn't it?" he asked the creature. "I don't get to be the king I deserve to be. The people have to be ruled by my idiot of a brother. And you…?" He gave a quiet chuckle and lifted the mouse to his waiting jaws. "You'll never see the light of day."

Just then, a toucan flew into the cave startling the lion and causing him to drop the small meal which scurried away. Munakata rolled his eyes with exasperation and gazed over at the intruder.

"I hope you know that you just made me lose my lunch, Dewa," Munakata said dryly to the bird.

Dewa scoffed lightly and brushed off his wings. "You'll lose more than that when Mikoto arrives, you know."

"Oh, look at me quivering in my boots," the lion replied as he eyed the toucan hungrily.

"You don't even-," Dewa broke off when he noticed the hungry look in the other's eyes. "Wait… Munakata… don't look at me that way!"

Dewa took off for flight but was quickly captured in the jaws of the lion. Luckily, Mikoto arrived in time to see his brother chomp down on his vassal hungrily. The larger lion sauntered in and batted the smaller on the back with a heavy paw.

"Drop him," Mikoto ordered in that same low tone.

Munakata immediately choked and opened his jaws, dropping the toucan onto the floor of the cave so that he rolled while covered in saliva.

With a grimace, Dewa lifted his wings to examine them. "Ugh…. Impeccable timing, sir." He shook out his wings sending flecks of drool all over the place.

"Why weren't you at the ceremony today?" Mikoto asked getting right to the root of the matter.

"Oh? That was today?" the other asked turning away to plop down into the dirt and draw circles in it with a nail. "Must have slipped my mind."

"Yes, well, as slippery as your mind is… as the king's brother, you should have been first in line," Dewa pointed out.

Munakata huffed and stood. "I was first in line until the little _kitten_ was born."

Mikoto scowled at his brother. "That _kitten_ is my son. And your future king."

Munakata rolled his eyes and turned away from the other. "I'll be sure to practice my curtsey," he said dryly as he walked away.

"You shouldn't turn your back to me, you know," Mikoto pointed out with a glint in his amber eyes.

"No, no. It's _you_ who shouldn't turn his back on _me_, dear brother," Munakata replied in a quiet tone.

"Is that a challenge?" Mikoto smirked.

"Hmph. Please. I wouldn't dream of challenging you," Munakata said as he left the cave.

Mikoto sighed and sat on his haunches as he watched his brother walk away.

"There's one in every family, your majesty," Dewa said as he flew up to sit on his king's shoulder. "Two in mine, actually. They always seem to ruin special occasions."

"What am I going to do with him?" Mikoto asked with a somewhat sad tone to his voice.

Dewa scoffed and snorted. "He'd make a very handsome throw rug."

The king shook his head and chuckled softly.

"And just think," the toucan went on to say. "Every time he gets dirty, you can take him out and beat him."

Mikoto cracked a smile and got up to leave the cave to return to his family and his responsibilities as king.


	3. Chapter 2

Hopping over to the edge of Pride Rock, Misaki looked down excitedly at the valley below then the golden disk rising slowly in a blood-red sky. The other times he sits on this perch, the young cub isn't happy. He's scared and nervous because of all the eyes watching him. Looking at him expectantly as they wait for him to do something great. But he can't. Not yet. Not when he's still just a boy. This time he was there waiting for his father. For Mikoto. The elder lion had promised to take him around the valley and show him the kingdom.

When he realized that Mikoto wasn't going to get up on his own, the young lion cub padded back inside and walked gingerly over the sleeping forms of the other lions in the pride. Every now and then he'd step on a tail or a paw to receive a glare or a grunt from the owner, but he kept on going only taking the time to mumble out an apology. Finally, he made it to the striking, red mane that belonged to his father. Butting his head gently against Mikoto's snout, he called out softly.

"Dad? It's time to wake up."

But still the alpha lion didn't move. He merely twitched his nose and rolled over so that his gigantic paws fell over the sleeping form of Izumo. Scowling, Misaki headbutted the back of his father's head. Harder this time so that the impact rang throughout the cave. On the other side of the tangled bodies of the lions, Izumo let out a soft chuckle.

"Your son wants you," the second-in-command said.

"He's your son. You birthed him," Mikoto pointed out not bothering to open his eyes.

"You helped make him," the other lion quipped back.

Growing more and more impatient, Misaki reared back and brought his head down into the older lion's skull harder than ever. The cub shook out the stars in his eyes and scowled.

"You promised… now get up!" Misaki pouted and waited for the other to finally awaken.

Heaving a huge sigh, Mikoto brought his legs under him and lifted himself from the cave floor to arch his back and stretch out the kinks left behind from sleep. Then he looked down at his pouting son and resisted a small smirk.

"Let's go," he simply said as he turned and began walking around the tangled mass of lions and out of the cave.

They sat together on that perch looking down at the waking life of the valley below. Antelopes hopped along in the tall grass. Zebras grazed by the watering hole. Giraffes clamored around the trees to snake their long, purple tongues amongst the thorns for the leaves they protected. All the while, Mikoto and Misaki sat there observing it all as the large, unknown presence hovered over Mikoto. It radiated power and was the reason no one questioned his authority as alpha lion. Not even Munakata had the gall to challenge him while that presence was there.

But he hadn't always had it, Mikoto was explaining to the young and eager cub.

"My father before me had it. And his father before him. And soon you will have it," he explained in that quiet, powerful tone.

"What? Me?" Misaki asked startled as he gazed up to where he felt it hovering.

If he concentrated hard enough, he could just make out the outline of it and see the crackles of red power it gave off. It sent a shiver down the cub's spine that raised his hackles and stiffened his tail.

Mikoto closed his eyes and inclined his head. "It's part of the cycle. Part of life."

Misaki still felt confused by the entirety of the situation. He didn't know if he could stand having that power hovering over him. Coupled with the expectations of the subjects….

Suddenly, light flared and nearly blinded the young lion causing him to clench shut his hazel eyes. When he opened them, Mikoto was gazing peacefully out at the valley with calm, amber eyes. Misaki found himself spacing out as he gazed at those eyes and by the time he realized that his father was speaking to him, the lion was already staring back at him curiously.

"Wha-?" the younger lion stammered out shaking his head slightly.

"Everything the light touches is ours," Mikoto repeated slowly and deliberately.

"E-everything…?" Misaki confirmed.

The alpha merely nodded his head in response. Misaki gazed over once more at the valley below them. _Everything. _Then something caught his eye.

"What about that shadowy place over there?" he asked indicating a patch of dark shadows far to the west.

Mikoto paused and looked over to where his son was looking before answering. "That's beyond our borders. Don't ever go there." As always, the elder's voice held a sense of authority. "Come. Let's go for a walk," Mikoto suggested suddenly standing and beginning to make his descent from the rock.

After only a moment's hesitation, Misaki pulled his gaze away from the patch of shadows and followed after his father.


	4. Chapter 3

As the two lions walked side by side, Mikoto continued to explain the mechanics of the kingdom to his son. He told the cub how everything they did impacted life around them. Everything from the antelope to the grass to the ants was all part of life. As Mikoto spoke, Misaki noticed that the presence followed them. It continuously hovered high in the sky radiating energy like a second sun. Misaki tried to ignore it, but the thing felt unstable. As if it was ready to fall out of the sky and crash into the ground at any moment.

The lesson was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of the toucan, Dewa, who swooped in from the sky and landed on a rock in a silent bow.

"Sir, I have the morning report for you," the bird informed his king.

Mikoto inclined his head and sat on his haunches ready for his report.

"Something is riling up the chimpanzees, though it's too hard to say what when they won't talk properly. The giraffes are grazing peacefully not bothering to worry about the chimps. The elephants seem to remember the disturbance, but I can't recall what they said," Dewa went on and broke off with a nervous chuckle.

While he spoke, Misaki spotted a gopher that had popped up from the dirt and opened its mouth to speak. The young cub didn't let the small creature get a chance as he quickly leapt forward and clapped his paws together attempting to catch the gopher. However, he was too slow and by the time he was on top of the small mound of dirt kicked up by the rodent. Mikoto's attention was diverted from his vassal to his son's lame attempt at pouncing.

"What are you doing?" he asked when Misaki leapt again at the gopher which had just appeared a few feet in front of the boy.

"Pouncing," Misaki replied rubbing at his head after hitting it off a rock with a _thunk_.

Mikoto let out a smirk and crouched low beside his son. "Let an old pro show you how it's done."

Their gazes drifted over to Dewa who was still rambling on unaware that the king and prince had diverted their attention away from his morning report.

"Stay low to the ground…." Mikoto breathed into his son's ear as he used one of his giant paws to press him into the dirt.

Misaki kept his eyes on his target and let his father press him down low to be hidden in the grass. "Right," the boy replied with a nod.

"Not a sound…," the older lion ordered.

Once again, Misaki gave a nod in understanding.

"Keep steady," Mikoto continued as they crept a little closer. "And…. _Pounce_!"

Dewa's sentence was broken off with a loud squawk and Mikoto's laughter rang throughout the plains. Misaki had perfectly leapt from the grass and brought his front paws into the bird's back. Both animals tumbled into the dirt and rolled with Misaki grinning proudly over his prey. When he looked up at his father, he saw the lion conversing with the gopher Misaki had tried pouncing earlier.

"Dewa! Stay with Misaki! Take him back to his mother and don't let him out of your sight," Mikoto ordered before stalking away.

"Can't I come?" Misaki called out hopefully but his cry was ignored as the alpha lion took off in the direction of whatever dangers threatened his kingdom.

"Don't feel bad, Misaki," Dewa soothed as he brushed the remaining dirt from his feathers. "It's probably just a bunch of hyenas thinking they can steal some of the pride's prey."

"Hyenas?" the boy asked excitedly. He had always wanted to see one and possibly even fight it.

"Yes… one day you'll be king and you'll be able to chase those slobbering, stupid, mangy, tight-wadded mutts from dawn until dusk," Dewa smirked as he took off and guided Misaki back to the safety of Pride Rock.


End file.
